Hollyoaks 20 best moments

7 October 2015

 

1. Episode 1 – 23rd October 1995

On 23rd October 1995, 2.9 million homes tuned in to watch the eagerly anticipated arrival of Hollyoaks, the new teen soap drama on Channel 4. The show opened with a series of scenes that encapsulated the lives of the seven youngsters in Chester. Viewers were captivated as they watched four teenagers scramble out of a car before it exploded in to a ball of flames – a sign of the action, drama and spectacles that would follow in the next two decades. As the episode rolled on, the audience pieced the characters and their stories together: Kurt’s kid brother Ollie was exposed as the ‘thief’ who stole his car; Jambo (Will Mellor) climbed through Kurt’s bedroom window marking his now-trademark move. The first instalment closed with Kurt’s advances towards Natasha rejected not once, but twice… he finally got the message when her Alsatian dog leapt towards him. Nick Pickard (Tony) remains the only remaining cast member from this first episode, although Jeremy Edwards (Kurt) returned in 2013 for Hollyoaks Later. Hollyoaks was originally on once a week until 1996 when this was doubled to two episodes. In 2001 Hollyoaks was being beamed into living rooms four times a week, which went up to five episodes in 2003. E4 episodes, which gave viewers a ‘first-look’ at the next night’s Ch4 edition, began in 2001.

 

1. Ep 347, The Water Tank with Rob Hawthorne – 14th September 1999

Hollyoaks went from two to four episodes a week as a one off for the water tank special. These episodes secured the highest ratings of 1999 with a record of 2.6 million homes tuning in to discover the fate of Lucy, Tony, Ruth and Lewis after Rob Hawthorne tried to drown them at a nautical test centre. Hero Tony swam to the bottom of the tank and found a hatch, saving the gang before perfoming the kiss of life on Lucy on the riverbank, all to the soundtrack of Robbie Williams’ song Angels.

 

1. Ep 1675, Becca and Justin sleep together – 23rd December 2005

In one of the best-loved illicit romances on Hollyoaks, teacher Becca, trapped in her loveless marriage with Jake, embarked on an affair with Justin, a pupil in her English class. On Christmas Eve 2005 she went to Justin's house and admitted she was jealous when she found out he had slept with Nicole Owen. This led to a passionate kiss then sex. It was the highest ever-rated Christmas storyline for the soap. Becca and Justin’s ill-fated love affair turned sour when she lost her job, fell pregnant not knowing who the father was, and was eventually jailed for having underage sex with her pupil after Justin gave false evidence against her. Becca was then stabbed to death in prison, leaving sister Nancy and son Charlie behind. Charlie is currently being raised by Nancy and estranged husband Darren. Becca and Justin’s affair won Best Storyline at the British Soap Awards in 2006.

 

1. Ep 1861, The Dog Fire – 11th September 2006

Five characters were wiped out in the fire that gutted the show’s iconic pub, The Dog in the Pond. Russ Owen’s brother, Sam, who had wrongly been linked to a previous fire which killed his girlfriend’s little brother, was responsible for the blaze. After getting involved with the wrong crowd and becoming a rapist, Sam was sentenced to prison. Desperate for forgiveness, he started writing to his sister, Nicole but when she didn’t want anything to do with him, he tried to take his own life in prison. Sam escaped from hospital and, furious to hear that his brother was dating the girl that got him sent to prison, doused The Dog in petrol. However, when heroic Calvin Valentine smashed a glass over Sam’s head, the arsonist dropped the lighter and the pub blew up. Meanwhile, Steph Dean was upstairs desperately trying to rouse Jake from his drowsy alcoholic state… The fire killed Sam, twins Mel and Sophie Burton, Joe Spencer and Olivia Johnson. Who could forget the chilling scene when Zoe Carpenter calls Joe Spencer to check he had survived, only to hear his distinctive ring tone… coming from a body bag.

 

1. Ep 1938, Claire tries to kill Max in the woods – 27th December 2006

When Claire Devine decided to kill her husband, Max and cash in his £500,000 life insurance pay out she didn’t bank on the loyalty of his friends and baby brother to stand in her way. Claire started working for Max and his best friend, OB at The Loft and soon got in a relationship with Max. Her gold-digging became clear when she seduced wealthy business man, Sean but when OB became suspicious she decided to alienate Max from his friends and family. She later slept with bad-boy, Warren Fox which was caught on camera by OB. Claire stole the DVD and took Max to a secluded lakeside location to recover after he had a heart attack. However, Claire’s intention was to kill Max and run off with his money. She locked his brother, Tom in the car and lied to Max that he had fallen in the lake. Max went in to rescue him but started to struggle. Claire stood and watched as Max began to drown, but she was thwarted when OB arrived and punched her in the face before saving his best friend. Gemma Bissix won Best Villain at the British Soap Awards for her portrayal of evil Claire.

 

1. Ep 2121, The reveal of John Paul and Craig's affair – 10th September 2007

The John Paul/Craig/Sarah love triangle won Hollyoaks the Broadcast of the Year award at the 2007 Stonewall Awards. Stonewall, an organisation that campaigns for equality for gay men and women, praised the show for its "sympathetic and convincing handling" of the "gritty and emotional" storyline. The affair came to light at an impromptu engagement party thrown by Frankie for son, Craig and Sarah Barnes. Secretly, John Paul texted Sarah on Craig's phone and told her to come upstairs while him and Craig were getting intimate. She left the party and walked in on the two of them kissing. Completely in shock, Sarah ran downstairs and outted Craig to the party-goers, leaving John Paul to face the wrath of the Dean family and Sarah’s dad, Mike. Despite Craig denying his feelings, fans were later delighted when John Paul and Craig finally cemented their relationship and walked off into the sunset together for a new life in Dublin. John Paul returned without Craig in 2012 and has been in some of Hollyoaks’ major storylines since, specifically the rape of John Paul by his pupil, Finn O’Connor.

 

1. Ep 2330, Max's Death / Steph and Max's wedding – 27th June 2008

A day of romance and celebration took a tragic turn for Hollyoaks favourite Max Cunningham when he crossed evil Niall Rafferty in his bid to marry Steph Dean. Max made it down the aisle to marry his beautiful bride in pink, but the worst was still to come. Niall fell in love with Steph when he started dating her during a temporary split with Max, before she went back to her future husband. Furious that Steph and Max had successfully tied the knot, Niall sped out of the village in his car, but didn’t bet on Max’s brother, ‘little’ Tom Cunningham running into his path. Desperate Max rushed to Tom’s aid, but got hit by Niall’s car in the process. Steph and Max’s best friend, OB were heartbroken as they witnessed Max’s final moments. Niall turned out to be the abandoned eldest child of Myra McQueen. He carried out his revenge by kidnapping his estranged family and blowing up the church where he was holding them hostage.

 

1. Hannah's eating disorder – 2006 - 2008

Hollyoaks became the first British soap to show the tragic consequences of anorexia when it aired Hannah Ashworth’s heart breaking story between 2006 and 2008. Hannah Ashworth, one of the show's most vivacious characters, formed a friendship with model, Melissa who she meets when she accompanied pal, Sarah Barnes to a modelling job. Always left in Sarah’s shadow, Hannah was grateful when Melissa paid her attention but Melissa was actually controlling and manipulating vulnerable Hannah. Melissa, who had anorexia, encouraged Hannah to lose weight and the girls developed an obsession with avoiding food while keeping friends and family in the dark. In the process Hannah metamorphosed into a withdrawn, deceitful girl who flew into sudden rages with her friends. Their weight-obsession ended in tragedy when Melissa died of a heart attack in Hannah’s arms. Emma Rigby won Best Actress at the British Soap Awards for her portrayal of Hannah’s anorexia battle.

 

1. Ep 2410, McQueen’s church explosion – 17th October 2008

In a twist that was to prove tragic for the McQueen family, newcomer Niall Rafferty was revealed as the eldest son of Myra, who she had left as a baby on the church steps when she was 14 years old. Niall decided to get revenge on his family, who he thought had heartlessly abandoned him all those years ago. From injecting Michaela McQueen with Heroin, to killing John Paul’s priest boyfriend and making it look like suicide, Niall was intent on destroying his family one by one. In his final act of revenge, Niall kidnapped each member of the McQueen family and held them hostage in the church where Myra had left him as a new born. Niall demanded that Myra answer six questions, and for each question she got right another of her children was allowed to live. However, Myra got two questions wrong and was forced to choose which of her children had to die. Jacqui was left heartbroken when Myra chose her and a rift inevitably built between mother and daughter. Niall panicked when Jack, Darren and Dom turned up to rescue the McQueens, and detonated the explosives. Caught under the rubble, Myra told Niall that she would have welcomed him if he’d revealed his true identity. Guilty, Niall tried to save his mother but more rubble falls. The McQueens are heartbroken when Tina dies from her injuries. They think Niall has also perished but viewers knew this wasn’t the case when they saw his reflection in the ambulance window. Aware that Niall was still out there, the McQueens tried to get on with their lives. Niall later threw himself off a cliff after terrorising Steph’s life and realising how much pain he’d caused.

 

1. Ep 2825, Calvin's death – 21st May 2010

In an innovative move, Hollyoaks treated viewers to a flash forward episode five months before it was due to air, which showed the murder of Calvin Valentine on his wedding day to Carmel McQueen. Fans were left wondering who would want to kill good-guy cop Calvin and why everyone seemed to have turned against him. As the months passed, it was revealed that Calvin had not only been having an affair with Mercedes behind her husband, Malachy and sister, Carmel’s backs, but he’d also slept with Theresa McQueen, got her pregnant and was refusing to stand by her. As the wedding day approached, Mercedes was falling for Calvin but had been rejected in favour of Carmel, and Malachy had found out about his wife’s infidelity. Meanwhile, Calvin’s sisters, Sasha and Lauren had discovered that he had been partly responsible for the death of Sasha’s boyfriend, Warren – the amount of people who had motive to kill Calvin was building. An oblivious Carmel was on Cloud 9 as she took to the dance floor with her new husband, but her heart broke when Calvin was shot during their first dance. The final list of suspects included Mercedes, Michaela and Jacqui McQueen, Jake Dean, Rhys Ashworth, Sasha and Lauren Valentine among others, but the actual murderer was revealed to be Theresa McQueen. The McQueens stood by Theresa when they found out and despite her spending some time in prison, the relationship between her and Carmel never fully recovered, right up until the day Carmel died in the train crash in 2014.

 

1. Ep 3201, Fright Night / Silas – 31st October 2011

To the untrained eye, Silas Blissett was the caring grandfather to Riley, Seth and Jason Costello who liked to play Chess and adored his daughter, Heidi. However, to nurse Lynsey Nolan, Silas was a serial killer who preyed on the promiscuous women of Hollyoaks village. By the time Fright Night arrived, sinister Silas had already killed three Hollyoaks ladies, attempted to murder Lynsey Nolan and had kidnapped heavily pregnant Mercedes after finding out she’d been having an affair behind husband, Riley’s back with his dad, Carl. Silas decided to play a game with Lynsey, who was determined to reveal his true identity. He gave her until Halloween to guess who his next victim would be - if she did, he would hand himself to the police, but if she didn’t then there’d be blood on her hands. While Lynsey frantically tried to solve the riddle, Silas was planning to kill her and thought he’d succeeded when he murdered a woman wearing the same Cat Woman costume as her. However, when a lock of blonde hair tumbled from underneath the Cat Woman mask, Silas was sickened to realise he’d actually killed his daughter, Heidi. Silas was in a mental health facility when Lynsey was murdered in 2012 and was furious that he wasn’t the one to kill his nemesis. He later escaped by faking a heart attack and is still on the run… Jeff Rawle won Best Villain in the 2012 All About Soap Bubble awards, while ‘Fright Night’ won Best Episode.

 

1. Ep 3278, Nancy and Darren’s first wedding – 15h February 2012

Hopeless-in-love Darren Osborne thought it would be a good idea to organise a surprise wedding for him and Nancy, but didn’t bet on Nancy’s mother turning up just before the nuptials and nearly ruining everything. With Nancy completely in the dark, Darren’s first mistake was organising the wedding for Valentine’s Day, which also happened to be the anniversary of her sister’s death. Darren didn’t let this stand in his way and asked Cindy to help him find the perfect wedding dress. However, a comment from Nancy’s mum made Cindy think that her and Darren were meant to be together and she tried to kiss him during the fitting. Meanwhile, Nancy was becoming suspicious of her fiance’s secretive behaviour and a number of clues lead her to believe he was having an affair. She was given more food for thought when her mum asked her to move to Canada with her. When word spread that Nancy was missing on her wedding day, Darren frantically tried to find his clueless bride and had just about given up when Nancy returned. He was still unsure whether Nancy would turn up at the altar, but his heart sored when she arrived and the pair got hitched – for the first time…

 

1. Ep 3376, Who killed Lynsey? – 2nd July 2012

In 2012, Lynsey was suddenly murdered in her own home and the audience were left shocked when Brendan discovered her dead body on the sofa. With her tormentor, Silas in a mental health facility, he was out of the frame, but other suspects included Mercedes McQueen and Will Savage after Lynsey had uncovered secrets about them. The real killer turned out to be Dr. Browning, who was trying to protect Mercedes after Lynsey found out she’d stabbed herself to frame Mitzeee. Hollyoaks kept Lynsey’s murder a secret to the audience and Joseph Thompson (Dr Browning) won Heat magazine’s ‘Soap Bubble’ award for Best Baddie.

 

1. Ep 3473/3474, The Hollyoaks Bus Crash, Enjoy The Ride – 14th / 15th November 2012

The Hollyoaks bus crash ‘Enjoy the Ride’ won Spectacular Scene at the British Soap Awards and Best Stunt in the All About Soap Bubble awards in 2013. The tragic accident took place at the joint wedding of Tony Hutchinson to Cindy Cunningham and Doug Carter to Ste Hay. However, there was one more wedding on that fateful day for teens Jono and Ruby who had decided to elope. With no other way of getting to Gretna Green, their friend Maddie stole the mini bus that was being used for the double wedding. After finding out that Jono had kissed Maddie, Esther decided to stop Ruby from marrying him and asked Bart to chase after the bus. Fuelled on drugs, Bart chased the mini bus but as their speed reached dangerous heights, Maddie had to suddenly hit the brakes when Ste’s daughter, Leah ran into the road. However, the brakes weren’t working and Maddie drove straight through the venue for Tony, Cindy, Doug and Ste’s weddings, crashing the vehicle onto its side. It was a race against time as flames edged towards the leaking petrol from the bus, which eventually saw the bus explode in a ball of fire. Rhys, Maddie, Neil and Jono died. The scenes were filmed over a full week with two days dedicated to the stunt sequences. The filming of the stunts employed a mix of CGI effects and live action. Nick Pickard described the location as a "very grand setting for a big Hollyoaks disaster".

 

1. Ep 3497/3498, Brendan and Ste in Dublin – 18th / 19th December 2012

Ste was torn about whether to go to America with husband, Doug or to follow the love-of-his-life, Brendan to Dublin. His mind was made up when Doug set him free at the airport and fans waited in anticipation to see whether Ste and Brendan would finally get a shot at happiness. However, in true soap style, Brendan was about to cross paths with another love interest, in the shape of John Paul McQueen. After sharing stories of lost loves over a drink, sadness turned to passion for Brendan and John Paul who ended up in bed together. Meanwhile, Ste was on his way and when he tracked Brendan down at his hotel, he was shocked to find John Paul half naked in his room. Brendan chased after Ste and the pair declared their love for each other on the Ha’Penny bridge. Their love affair was doomed to fail when Brendan took the blame for his sister, Cheryl for killing their abusive father. Kieron Richardson (Ste) and Emmett J Scanlan (Brendan) won Best On-Screen Partnership at the British Soap Awards and Best Relationship in the All About Soap Bubble awards in 2013. Hollyoaks also won the Attitude magazine Media Representation Award for ‘Best representation of gay people and issues in a continuing drama.’

 

1. Ep 3521, Esther's suicide attempt – 21st January 2013

Esther had been the victim of bullying by her college friends for months when the pain and humiliation finally got too much and she decided to take her own life. ‘Queen Bee’ at college, Maddie Morrison had started the abuse with a tirade of cruel comments, pranks and jokes at Esther’s expense and when Maddie died in the Bus Crash, Ruby and Sinead decided to continue the reign of terror, justifying their behaviour by blaming Esther for the deaths of their friends. In January 2013 Esther went to The Folly armed with pills and alcohol and took an overdose. However, she was left feeling annoyed and a failure when she woke up the next morning. Esther decided to try again but was intercepted by her friend, George who took her home. It was only when her gran, Frankie found the remains of the pills in her bag that the seriousness of the situation dawned and Esther was rushed to hospital where she had a liver transplant. Hollyoaks worked with The Samaritans and Beat Bullying on the storyline, which won Best Storyline at the All About Soap Bubble awards and an RTS North West award for Innovation in Multi-Platform for the fictional social networking site, DocYou, which aimed to address the issues of cyber bullying.

 

1. Ep 3712, The Hollyoaks Blast – 15th October 2013

The Hollyoaks Blast won Heat magazine’s ‘Soapy Bubble’ award for Explosive Storyline in 2013 after a devastating bomb ripped through the Hollyoaks Council Flats and killed three main characters. Intent on killing Mercedes McQueen, soap bitch Claire Devine and her accomplice, Trevor Royle planted a bomb at The Loft where they knew the McQueens would be celebrating Mercedes’ birthday. However, when Sinead stole the bomb from the club, thinking it was a bag full of cash, and took it to Ste and Doug’s leaving party at the Council Flats, tragedy was certain. Ash Kane, Doug Carter and Leanne Holliday all perished in the blast, while in the village Dr Browning killed Claire Devine and Mercedes murdered Dr Browning.

 

1. Ep 3755, The Fall of Sienna – 13th December 2013

Sienna’s reign of manipulation over Darren and the rest of the Osbornes came crashing down when her fake pregnancy and kidnap of ‘Little’ Tom was finally exposed. Starting as a bar maid, Sienna was soon promoted to the Osborne’s nanny when Oscar was born. However, her obsession about being a mum saw her slowly trying to take over Nancy Osborne’s life and even breast feeding her baby! Sienna took advantage of Nancy’s developing addiction to pain killers and made her look like an unfit mother through a series of incidents. Once Nancy and Darren had split up, Sienna started a relationship with Darren and lied that she was pregnant. However, when Little Tom found out that she was concealing a fake baby bump, she kidnapped him and locked him in the same basement that Patrick locked her in when she was pregnant as a fourteen year old. At Sienna and Darren’s engagement party, Darren’s romantic speech is ruined by the arrival of furious Nancy and the return of Tom… Nancy flies at Sienna, but Jack pulls her away. Sienna wonders why everyone’s still staring at her until she looks down and sees her ripped top, exposing her fake baby bump. Sienna goes on the run, kidnaps Tom, Charlie and baby Oscar and locks herself in the Roscoe’s garage. The Osbornes are alarmed when they hear the engine running and think Sienna is trying to kill herself and the children. She drives through the doors of the garage and is arrested. However, when Jack notices blood coming from the boot of his car, they open the door to reveal Nancy unconscious inside. Anna Passey has since won Best Villain at the British Soap Awards.

 

1. Ep 3774, Male Rape – 9th January 2014

Hollyoaks worked with Survivors Manchester on John Paul’s rape storyline to accurately portray the teacher’s ordeal. After months of homophobic bullying by Finn and Robbie, John Paul was raped by Finn in his classroom and suffered in silence as he continued to teach his attacker. It wasn’t until Finn attempted to rape Nancy that John Paul was able to reveal the horror of what had happened and Finn was finally brought to justice. Through their work with Hollyoaks, Survivors Manchester secured a £1million ring-fenced grant from the Ministry of Justice to support male victims of sexual violence. They also won Gold at the Public Service Communications Awards for their #BreakTheSilence campaign.

 

1. Ep 3993, The Hollyoaks Train Crash, End of the Line – 12th November 2014

Porsche and Lockie’s wedding day ended in disaster when their party train crashed and killed Carmel McQueen and Sonny Valentine. The series of events escalated when Sienna drove Maxine to find Dodger to tell him she loved him, but Maxine’s abusive husband, Patrick chased them down in his car and sent them speeding down an embankment and onto the train track below. As they frantically tried to escape their stranded car, the train of wedding guests came hurtling towards them. Maxine and Sienna escaped with a second to spare as the train crashed and derailed. Meanwhile, inside the doomed locomotive, the McQueen family had just found out that Carmel was planning to kidnap Theresa’s daughter, Kathleen Angel and run away with Sonny Valentine. Sonny was about to kill Theresa when the train crashed but his efforts were thwarted when Carmel distracted him and Theresa was able to escape. However, as Theresa ran away, a gas canister exploded with Carmel and Sonny trapped inside the train. The heartbroken McQueens were by Carmel’s side as she passed away. As one life ended, another began when Maxine gave birth to baby Minnie. Patrick found her in an abandoned railway hut and took his new baby to find help for Maxine, but instead told the paramedic that Maxine died in labour. Theresa finds weak Maxine and rushes her to hospital.

 

High res images from each episode are available for reproduction. Please email Lucy Connolly: lconnolly@limepictures.com

An online box set, featuring many of Hollyoaks' finest eoisodes over 20 years, is available here:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hollyoaks-20-years-young